In July 2022 we headed to Iceland. And for lovers of hiking it would have been a sin to skip the 55 km crossing of Iceland’s Rainbow Mountains. The Laugavegur trail (the Rainbow Mountains trek) was rated by National Geographic as one of the 20 most beautiful treks in the world and hundreds of walkers enjoy its beauty every year. And no wonder.
Thanks to this article you’ll avoid our mistakes, learn things nobody else writes about and end up with an unquenchable urge to buy a ticket to Iceland.
Where the Rainbow Mountains (Landmannalaugar) are
You’ll find the Rainbow Mountains in the Fjallabak Nature Reserve, about 180 km from Reykjavík. They lie high in the Icelandic interior, surrounded by lava fields and volcanoes. Getting here isn’t entirely simple – the route runs along dusty F-roads, accessible only to 4×4 vehicles. From Reykjavík it takes roughly 4 hours. The most common route goes via Hrauneyjar and then along the F208.
Why Landmannalaugar is called the “Rainbow Mountains”
When you first step out of the car, you’ll feel like you’ve arrived on another planet. The mountains here literally play in every colour – from yellow and orange, through red and green, to turquoise and black. The effect is created by rhyolite rock, rich in iron and sulphur oxides that react with moisture and light.
The weather on the Rainbow Mountains trek
Even though the highest point of the Laugavegur trail sits at a relatively low 1,052 m, you have to remember this is still a mountain route. A place that’s unpredictable and that you absolutely have to prepare very well for.
On my first long-distance mountain walk an unknown, experienced mountain man said to me: “The mountains decide whether it is time to go on a trail, not you”. Those words were so true and so telling that they completely changed my approach to preparing for any mountain crossing. And in Iceland that goes double.
How to get to the start of the Rainbow Mountains and back
The easiest way to reach the start of the trek is to get on an off-road bus run by Reykjavík Excursions in Reykjavík and take it all the way to Landmannalaugar, where the route begins. It obviously runs from the end of the route (Þórsmörk) back to Reykjavík too. Sales are handled by Volcano Trails, who from experience are very good over email if there’s a problem. You can buy tickets here; I’d recommend buying 14-30 days ahead.
If you leave buying tickets to the last minute, exactly what happened to us could happen to you – the tickets were sold out and you obviously can’t buy them from the driver. Pressed for time, we couldn’t come up with anything better than driving to Landmannalaugar in a normal car. Yes, we broke the Icelandic law on so-called F-roads (roads marked F, which by law only off-road vehicles may use) and yes, for the whole hour and a half our little car rattled through the potholes we were holding our breath. We searched our consciences over what we’d done and wondered how much it would cost us if something happened to the car. It all turned out fine, our fellow passengers (my partner’s parents, who were there with us) drove the car back too, and we could breathe freely again.
If you take just one piece of advice to heart from this article, it’s this: “Don’t drive to the start of the trek in a normal car.”
What to take on the Laugavegur trail
A lot depends on whether you plan to sleep at the campsites or in the huts. The section below will help you make that decision. We opted for a combination, so all the kit relates to the combined option.
Experienced adventurers like you don’t need the absolute basics explained, like a sleeping bag or a well-insulated sleeping mat, so here I’ll describe my own observations.
Food
Don’t bring luxuries; at every campsite you can buy things like beer, crisps, drinks or sweets.
Gas canisters
You don’t need an extra-large one; the shops at the campsites (mainly at the start and end of the route) buy back half-empty canisters, so a gas supply is always within 20 km at most.
Money
Don’t take much; you can pay by card for accommodation (both campsites and huts). Given the location, that was a big and welcome surprise. And it genuinely worked.
Clothing
For cold, wind and rain. It really is very windy in Iceland and the wind makes low mountain temperatures lower still. At night, cooking dinner, we had two jackets, gloves and a hat on and were still uncomfortably cold. (author’s note: when you get back to Czechia, still air will feel very strange, almost unnatural)
What else
A rubbish bag. Not every campsite can take waste away, so sometimes you have to carry it with you.
Sleep in the huts or the campsites?
Sleeping arrangements are one of the first questions I get when someone asks me about the Laugavegur trail. From my own experience the answer is unambiguous: the campsites. Every hut has an adjoining campsite that shares the washrooms, toilets and warden with the hut.
I do of course have an explanation for that firm answer, and it’s this: people. Because the Laugavegur trail is so popular, local companies offer “guided tours”. In practice that means you pay a heap of money and the company arranges a guide, luggage transfer, overnight stays in the huts and food. For us those groups were genuinely a thorn in the eye.
What matters is what type of walker buys these commercial guided tours. Wealthy and inconsiderate (non-)walkers whose behaviour makes you stop and stare at every encounter. Let me pick out a few moments I simply couldn’t get my head round and that mean I’d always choose a tent on the Laugavegur trek now.
Space in the dining room
Mountain huts are traditionally very small and the shared dining room fits at most 25 people. The commercial groups number around 20. The problem is their shared breakfasts and dinners. The leader lays plates out on the table for their charges (yes, for all 20 of them) before the food is even ready. The kitchen counter is taken up by the sheer volume of food being prepared, leaving you two options. Feel like a sardine among the group members, or pull on every jacket you own and cook outside on your stove.
What’s on the menu
You wouldn’t believe the luxurious, and for mountain walking entirely absurd, food they have. Sitting half off the edge of a bench, I was eating my instant porridge; next to me two children were eating dry cornflakes with their hands out of one bowl. Please picture that scene now. It didn’t strike me as odd until the tour group started having breakfast alongside us. Because their food is driven in and they don’t have to carry it on their backs, they have access to literally anything you can think of. Every 10 seconds someone in the group shouted another ingredient across the room: “Anybody wants cheese?”, “Nutella?”, “Strawberries?”, “Fruits?”, “Chocolate?”, “Croissant?” “Salmon?”. And the children next to me were still on dry cornflakes. Picture that scene again. I’ve never been part of a more absurd situation. I even had to smile.
Do you need to book the huts in advance?
Yes. The huts are booked out months ahead. We couldn’t find a properly working official form, so we emailed the official address fi@fi.is. If a hut is full they put you on a waiting list, which to our surprise probably isn’t that long. Two days before our trek started, 2 huts actually came free; we only confirmed one – Álftavatn.
Tips and tricks for river crossings
Before flying to Iceland I did a lot of googling about exactly how to ford the rivers. I was quite worried about it. What if I can’t manage because the current is too strong? But nowhere did I find the advice I only worked out while actually crossing, and which genuinely helped.
Tip no. 1
Don’t look at your feet. The moving current deceives your senses and you’ll subconsciously try to correct your balance in the wrong direction, leaving you unpleasantly wobbling. Lean on your poles, look at the far bank and walk slowly. This tip turned me into a fording specialist.
Tip no. 2
You’ll manage in Crocs or sandals, though ideally in water shoes. Don’t bring any closed shoes; there’s no point and wet shoes add serious weight to your back.
Tip no. 3
Watch the weather. A river in flood is an element that can unexpectedly add several days to your trail. If you aren’t sure whether it’s safe to cross, wait for other walkers, ideally with experienced guides. If you have no way of checking the weather, the campsite warden will always give you the latest forecast.
Is the Laugavegur trek through the Rainbow Mountains worth it?
Yes. Iceland has a gorgeous, unique landscape formed from fire and ice. Two opposites that together create a stunning spectacle of two elements in their most extreme forms. The island is also so varied that its interior is worth seeing too. Snow, hot springs, smouldering ground, bubbling streams, the greenest summits and the ever-present sheep.
When we bought the tickets, I couldn’t picture Icelandic nature and the photos didn’t really speak to me either. But it turned out their landscape is so different that a plain inland European can’t even imagine it – and then can’t take their eyes off it. We’d definitely recommend it!
An alternative for smaller adventures
Instead of the whole trek you can go on a day-long guided adventure with a tour operator or an experienced guide. It’s certainly not an option to overlook. Even though we don’t recommend driving there in your own car.
Ready for an adventure? Check out our other tips on the best European treks for beginners and for the more advanced.
